"Ah!" says our sin rationalizing conscience, "It is but a little pride, a little worldliness, a little uncleanness, a little lack of bible study..." Ah yes, your flesh tells you, "It is only a very little sin that you stick with. You may commit it without any danger to your soul. It is but a little one; if you commit it, your soul shall yet live."
Solemnly consider, that those sins which we are apt to account small, have brought upon men the greatest wrath of God, for example the eating of an apple, gathering a few sticks on the Sabbath day, and touching of the ark. Oh! the dreadful wrath that these sins brought down upon the heads and hearts of men! The least sin is contrary to the law of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the glory of God…Consider, that there is great danger, yes, many times most danger—in the smallest sins.
If the serpent sneaks in his head, he will bring in his whole body after him. Greater sins do startle the soul sooner, and awaken and rouse up the soul to repentance, than lesser sins do. Little sins often slide into the soul, and breed, and work secretly and indiscernibly in the soul, until they come to be so strong, as to trample upon the soul, and to cut the throat of the soul.
For example, the greatest danger to our bodies is the least of diseases that hang around in us, because we are make light of them, (ie: a cold) and neglect the timely use of remedies (simple rest, drinking fluids, or medicines) for removing them, until they have grown so strong that they become fatal to us.
So there is most danger often in the least sins...
A lustful glance. A sharp response. A pattern to indulge. A failure to give thanks. A penchant for comfort. An ill-judgment passed. A tendency to spend materialistically. A bent towards impatience. A cowering to speak. An issue with selfishness. A proclivity to lie. .............A little hole in the ship sinks it. A little stab at the heart kills a man. A little sin, without a great deal of mercy, will damn a man!
Sin is pervasive (James 4:8). And deadly (James 1:15; 5:20). Sinning is believing a false promise from the world (pop culture) above a true promise from God. All our sins find their origin in the desires rooted inside our hearts (James 1:14–15). In our lives today, some sins are blatantly discouraged, some are deceptively praised, and others are acceptably common.
We are far too hospitable with our sin.
When was the last time we looked our sin in the face and came away broken? When was the last time we felt the gravity of our sin as betrayal against a holy God?
Rarely do we weep.
Our hearts are callously numb. Though justified by the blood of Christ, we are still infiltrated with sin (Romans 8:13), and most of the time we appear okay with it. We need help. We need reminders.
A Reminder from James
The book of James was written to encourage believers back to faithful living instead of sinful wandering (James 1:21; 4:8–10;, 5:19–20). At the height of his letter, James cries out for the believers to see their sin rightly and act accordingly.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. (James 4:8–9)
James wants his readers to feel the weight and heinousness of their sin, and to mourn over it. But why as believers should we? Why should we weep over our sin? What benefit is there to turning our laughter into mourning?
Seeing Our Sin Leads To Seeing Our Savior
James writes this way because he knows the gospel becomes glorious when the depth and power of our sin is understood as detestable and damning. When we see a clearer glimpse of our sin we behold a clearer glimpse of the cross. The horror of our sin magnifies the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice.
The reality is that the gospel is good news of great joy (Luke 2:10) because it invades dreadful news of great sorrow. It steps in and changes things, bringing us to God as his own (1 Peter 3:18). The result is that God gets the glory and we receive the joy!!
But instead of killing our sin we are feeding it. Instead of loathing our sin we are loving it. Instead of destroying our sin we are desiring it. The result: We belittle the cross and deceive ourselves. Our need becomes less and the enormity of Jesus’s sacrifice fades. The quickest way to loose the wonder of the gospel is to lose sight of the depth of our sin.
Yes, we should be weeping. We should be appalled, disgusted, shocked, and grieved in the depths of our hearts over our sin. All our sin is treason against God. Not just the prideful, lying, stealing, and lusting sins but sins of the tongue, sins of anxiousness, sins of bitterness, sins of partiality, sins of complacency, sins of jealously, sins of impatience, and sins of arrogance. We must grieve over them all. What we call little sins are deadly.
Weeping Gives Way to Remembering
We mourn over our wicked sin by seeing it righty before a holy God. True grief over sin comes from contemplating our Savior, not comparing our character to those around us.
The quickest and most consistent way to grieve over our sin is by seeing Jesus for who he is and the worthy life he calls us to live. God has a standard for the redeemed to live by and we fail . . . often (Philippians 1:27). But godly grief must give way to repentance, which glories in God, the giver of grace, as we live under the gospel of salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). As we fight to see Jesus, we do so in hopes that our heart will be transformed, and by that, we put sin to death (2 Corinthains 3:18). And we fall more deeply in love with him, which spawns greater obedience.
Allowing you to enjoy a large thermos of Vanilla Soy Latte with me and Jesus, in the woods, for three short days. I hope it is still HOT! And that you enjoy it immensely.
Robbs
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